With the eleventh round of Super Rugby’s matches now a thing of the past, it is time for us to work out which players shone over the past weekend.
The Hurricanes lead the way with four representatives in our team after their win over the Sunwolves while the Stormers, Reds, Jaguares, Highlanders and Bulls are next best with two players apiece.
Super Rugby: Team of Round 11
15 Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes): Scored a wonderful try. Always a pleasure to see a full-back make a clean break and run untouched to the line. Showed his ability to free the hands in the tackle, with five offloads. Also beat three defenders, made three clean breaks from 10 carries for 97 metres and 17 passes. Beats out Dillyn Leyds, who shone for the Stormers.
14 Julian Savea (Hurricanes): The bus is back. Four clean breaks, three defenders beaten and three offloads from his 11 carries for 105 metres makes for impressive reading. Came to life in a loose, sevens-style game, able to build up momentum with those barnstorming carries. Edges out Crusaders flyer Manasa Mataele, the Highlanders’ Ben Smith and the Reds’ Filipo Daugunu.
13 Samu Kerevi (Reds): Played at inside centre but gets in at 13 after a fine showing against the Lions in Brisbane. Thrived in the captaincy role with another talismanic performance. Hard to believe he is only 25 as he showed maturity beyond his years to lead his side to a historic victory over back-to-back finalists Lions. Beat five defenders and put in 15 hits on defence, doing enought to get in ahead of the Bulls’ Jesse Kriel.
12 Vince Aso (Hurricanes): Sublime performance from Aso. Grabbed two tries and made two others. His 12 runs yielded 105 metres in which he beat five defenders, made five offloads as well as five clean breaks in a superb display of counter-attacking rugby. Elsewhere, the Jaguares’ Jeronimo de la Fuente and the Stormers’ Damian de Allende impressed.
11 JJ Engelbrecht (Stormers): The versatile back celebrated his return to the starting lineup with a brace of tries while beating two defenders and making three clean breaks in his side’s win over the Rebels. The Jaguares’ Emiliano Boffelli is unlucky to miss out on our team as he scored a good try against the Blues.
10 Handre Pollard (Bulls): After a number of injury issues, the Springbok is starting to find his best form and, despite the Highlanders eventually emerging triumphant on Saturday, it was another hugely impressive display by Pollard. In fact, it was a great individual duel between the South African and Lima Sopoaga, who also played very well for the New Zealand outfit but, after running for 83 metres, scoring a try and kicking three conversions, the Bulls man bettered his opposite number.
9 Aaron Smith (Highlanders): In an encounter full of high quality performances by the half-backs, the All Blacks’ scrum-half also makes our team following a consummate display. The 29-year-old showed his nous to support Fletcher Smith’s break for the first score before he returned the favour by providing the assist for the full-back’s try. As a result, he edged in front of the Jaguares’ Martin Landajo, whose control from the base helped the Argentinians register their first ever victory over a New Zealand franchise.
8 Jordan Taufua (Crusaders): Isi Naisarani has had a good season for the Brumbies but he was comfortably outplayed by the Crusaders’ number eight. Taufua carried hard in the tight, running for an excellent 40 metres from 12 carries, but also defended well, making a team-high 13 tackles without missing any. There was plenty of competition, with Amanaki Mafi (Rebels), Luke Whitelock (Highlanders) and Thembelani Bholi (Bulls) also putting their hands up, but the 26-year-old particularly stood out.
7 George Smith (Reds): The Australia legend rolled back the years with a fine display as the Queenslanders shocked the side that went into the weekend at the top of the table. Smith’s work at the breakdown enabled the Reds to get on the front foot against the Lions, while he was also dominant in defence, making 13 tackles. He was rewarded for his performance with a try late in the opening period as the openside took the position ahead of Marcos Kremer (Jaguares) and Ardie Savea (Hurricanes )
6 Brad Shields (Hurricanes): Eddie Jones will no doubt be delighted with how the blindside has been performing this season, with Shields appearing set to join up with the England squad for the South Africa tour, and he was once again excellent at the weekend. It was a typically industrious display from the flanker, who made 14 tackles and was powerful in the tight. Angus Scott-Young put in a superb shift for the Reds and Jason Jenkins was also impressive for the Bulls, but Shields is having a fine campaign.
5 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Stormers): The Springbok hardman was back in his favourite position, after playing on the side of the scrum for some matches, and showed why he is one of the premier locks in the tournament with a superb all-round effort in his side’s win over the Rebels at Newlands. Du Toit took the fight to his opponents especially on defence and eventually made 16 tackles. Beats out fellow Bok Lood de Jager, who impressed for the Bulls.
4 Tom Franklin (Highlanders): Although the Highlanders were on the back foot for large parts of their clash against the Bulls, Franklin’s performance deserves plenty of praise as he impressed throughout. Did well in the lineouts and delivered an impressive defensive shift which saw him finish with 19 tackles. Meanwhile, Izack Rodda of the Reds also played well.
3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (Jaguares): The Buneos Aires-based side claimed an historic victory against the Blues in Auckland and their forwards deserve plenty of credit as they dominated up front despite atrocious weather conditions. Chaparro was at the forefront of that effort with solid scrummaging and he also did well on defence with 11 tackles. The Bulls’ Trevor Nyakane and Taniela Tupou of the Reds also impressed.
2 Agustin Creevy (Jaguares): The former Jaguares captain delivered an inspirational performance in Auckland. The veteran hooker’s leadership proved invaluable up front but he backed up superb decison making with a brilliant showing and scored his side’s opening try. Also did well on defence and eventually made eight hits. Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx also caught the eye in the Lions’ loss to the Reds.
1 Lizo Gqoboka (Bulls): Finished on the losing
side against the Highlanders in Pretoria but put in a fine all-round effort and
won the official Man-of-the-match award after the game. Gqoboka was
particularly impressive in the scrums where he delivered a dominant performance
but also did well with ball in hand and eventually gained 29 metres from nine
runs with one clean break, four defenders beaten and also made an offload.
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